


So We Meet Again (and Again and Again...)

by gorillas_infinity



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional, F/F, No Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 13:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15607608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gorillas_infinity/pseuds/gorillas_infinity
Summary: Chloe wakes up from a horrible nightmare. Rachel Amber had gone missing. Chloe had spent months trying to find her. But here she was, in Chloe's arms. Just in time for the real nightmare to begin.A oneshot based off a series of tweets by @chamlis15 a Life is Strange fan artist. Tagged Pricefield for canon events.





	So We Meet Again (and Again and Again...)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chamlis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chamlis/gifts).



A deep, rib cracking gasp shatters through the air. Chloe’s body jerks upright in her bed as her lungs inflate. She looks around her room from her bed with a sigh, whispering “Fuck.” as she pushes her palm up her forehead and through her hair, wiping the cold sweat from her face. “Worst fucking dream.” she mumbles, reaching for her stash. Her hand stops half way through it's motion when she sees the empty baggie. “Guess I’m… out of weed?”

 

Chloe pats the pockets of her jeans. Her hand shoots into her jacket, searching the pockets. “And no cigarettes? What the fuck, dude? Not cool.” Chloe rocks forward, standing off the bed and walks towards the door. The heels of her boots echo through the silent room as she crosses. Chloe grabs the handle and with a twist flings the door open. Then she freezes. “Rachel?!”

 

“Chloe?!” Rachel shouts in shock holding open another door on the other side of Chloe’s door.

 

“Rachel…” Chloe’s voice drops. She grits her teeth trying to hold back the tears. Rachel jumps into Chloe, wrapping her arms around the taller girl’s shoulders and sending them both stumbling back across the floor. Chloe falls back when her ankles hit her bed, dragging Rachel down on top of her. Her arms wrap around Rachel’s back and hold on for dear life. “I thought…” Chloe struggles to keep the dam from breaking as tears drip down her chin. “I thought I lost you, Rach.”

 

“I’m right here, Chloe.” Rachel kisses Chloe, their cheeks rubbing together as Rachel buries her face in Chloe’s neck. “Where ever here is.” The words fall weightlessly from Rachel’s lips. Chloe feels a growing dampness on her neck.

 

“Hey, hey.” Chloe blinks away her tears, trying to be strong for Rachel. “You’re here with me. That’s all that matters”

 

“I don’t even know where this is.” Rachel’s nails dig into Chloe’s shoulders underneath her jacket, pulling as if she could get any closer to Chloe. “I’m so scared, Chloe.”

 

“You don’t have to be. I’m here, Rach. I’m not gonna lose you again.” Chloe tells her.

 

“You don’t… You don’t understand!” Rachel cries into Chloe’s shoulder.

 

“Tell me then! What’s wrong?” Chloe asks, worry building in her chest.

 

“Where are we, Chloe?” Rachel presses the side of her face into Chloe’s neck, her face hot as her breath bounces back off the bed.

 

Chloe tries to hold back her scoff. “In my room?”

 

“How did you get here?” Rachel continues.

 

“I… woke up?” Chloe arches a brow, turning her head just enough to look at Rachel as much as she can.

 

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Rachel sniffles.

 

“Uhhh…” Chloe starts to think. “I remember a fucked up dream where Nathan shot me?”

 

“How did…” Rachel pauses. “How did _I_ get here, Chloe?”

 

This time Chloe can’t help but chuckle. “I don’t know, Rachel? How did you get here?” Chloe props herself up on an elbow to look down at Rachel. “Where have you been?” Rachel doesn’t speak. Instead she just keeps clinging to Chloe, her head now on Chloe’s collarbone. “C’mon. You’ve been fucking missing for months. Where were you, Rach?”

 

“I…” Rachel starts, but her voice falls to a whisper. “I was in my room.”

 

“What do you mean you were in your room?” Chloe snorts. “I’m pretty sure your parents would have noticed if you were hiding out at your own house. They’re assholes, Rach, but they’re not stupid.” Chloe grins at her own thought before saying it. “Okay, maybe they _are_ stupid. But they’re not blind.”

 

“Chloe…” Rachel’s hand stop holding so tight. “There was no door. I was trapped. For so long. I don’t… I don’t even know.”

 

“What do you mean there was no door?” Chloe’s brow furrows in confusion.

 

“I mean there was _no door_! There was no way out!” Rachel begins to raise her voice. “But then there was. And I opened it. And there you were. And here we are…” Her voice trails off.

 

“So, what?” Chloe begins to laugh. “If I open my door I’ll be in your room?”

 

“I don’t…” Rachel stammers. “I don’t know…”

 

Chloe pushes Rachel off with a gentle, almost playful, shove. “Let’s find out then!” She climbs off the end of the bed, walking to the door. Rachel looks up, terrified as Chloe’s hand twists the handle. Turning back to Rachel as she opens the door, Chloe grins. “See? Everything’s perfectly…” Her words falter as she turns back to the doorway, open to an empty black void. She closes the door, pale as a ghost as she turns back to face Rachel. Taking slow, shaky, heavy steps, Chloe makes her way back to the bed, plopping down on the side of her leg. Her face blank, eyes wide as Chloe tries to process what she just saw.

 

“Chloe…” Rachel eeks out, her voice shaking. Chloe turns her head to look at Rachel, her face unabashedly twisted with fear and confusion. Rachel reaches out to Chloe, laying a hand on her leg. Chloe takes her hand, forcing a smile.

 

“Rachel?” Chloe’s smile falls away as quickly as it appeared. “What happened to your neck?” Rachel reaches up to her own neck, wincing as her finger draws across it. She turns, looking at Chloe’s mirror before standing from the bed and looking at herself. In the mirror Rachel sees a wide swath of purple bruising on the right side of her neck, a small strip of yellowish purple wrapping around to the other side of her throat. Just beyond that, a circle shaped bruise with a tiny dot in the center. As the dot begins dripping a thick red ooze, Rachel suddenly becomes aware of the dull pain radiating from her throat. Chloe stands to look in the mirror with her.

 

“Chloe…” Rachel says as she looks at Chloe in the mirror. “What’s that?” She points into the mirror at the red splotch on Chloe’s stomach. Chloe looks in the mirror, then down at her own abdomen, suddenly feeling a burning around the tear in her shirt. With a shaky hand, Chloe dips her fingers into the red splotch, bringing them to her nose. They smell like iron. The two stare at each other in silent fear for what feels like an eternity before words fall from Rachel’s mouth. “You… You said you remember…” She looks down at Chloe’s stomach. “Nathan shot you?”

 

“That was…” Chloe shakes her head violently in refusal. “That was just a dream, Rach!” She grits her teeth, looking away at the floor. “What do _you_ remember before your room?” Rachel looks back into the mirror, examining the bruise on her neck. With her left hand, she reaches to her own throat, confirming her fear.

 

“I… I remember Nathan. Taking me… somewhere… Somewhere dark…” Rachel chokes on the last words.

 

“Rachel…” Chloe’s eyes begin to well again as she wraps her arms around Rachel.

 

“Chloe.” Rachel says, snorting back her tears as she wraps her arms around Chloe again. “I’m _so_ scared.”

 

“Me too.” Chloe says, trying to use her most comforting voice. “But I’m here. We’re gonna figure this out. I’m not going anywhere.” Chloe squeezes Rachel. Rachel squeezes back, her arms sinking into Chloe. Far more than they should. Rachel steps back, looking at Chloe frozen where she stands. Suddenly Chloe’s entire body begins crumbling to dust and ash, carried away by an intangible wind. Rachel stumbles backwards, crying hysterically as she falls onto Chloe’s bed watching the her best friend disintegrate.

 

Rachel curls up in Chloe’s bed, clutching a pillow to her chest as she heaves. She looks around her in terror at everything so familiar but at the same time so alien. Her eyes screw shut, hoping that when she opens them she might wake up from whatever hellish nightmare this was. Rachel slowly opens one eye, then the other, sighing in distress as she realizes she’s still in Chloe’s bed. Some version of Chloe’s bed. Somewhere. She looks to the window. The same lightless void that overtook the doorway stares back into Rachel from the window.

 

Standing, Rachel decides to explore Chloe’s room. As she drops her feet off the foot of the bed, her foot dings against a metal box at the foot of Chloe’s bed. Rachel reaches down, bringing the box to her lap, and sorts through its contents. She smiles weakly at the photo of her and Chloe, loving Chloe’s rebellious anger. Her fingers trace over the words “Rachel Songs” scribbled across a CD in marker. Looking to the Chloe’s Hi-Fi, Rachel stands, going to the stereo and playing the disk. Soft guitar notes pluck through the air. Rachel sits on the edge of Chloe’s bed as the acoustic sounds fall away to the lyrics.

 

_Goodbye to my Santa Monica Dream_

 

_Fifteen kids in a backyard drinking wine_

 

_You tell me stories of the sea_

 

_And the ones you left behind_

 

Rachel doubles over, falling to the side as she curls into a ball, sobbing. Her neck burning. Her mind burning along with it, remembering flashes of Nathan, his camera, and a very dark place. As the song fades out, Rachel’s crying fades as well. Collecting herself, she moves to Chloe’s desk, rifling through the drawers. She shuffles through photographs of the fabled Max Caulfield with a heavy sigh.

 

“Mmm. Mornin, Rach.” Chloe’s voice calls from behind. Rachel swings around in her chair to see Chloe lying on her bed.

 

“Chloe? You’re back?” Rachel’s brows draw together in surprise.

 

“I just had the weirdest dream. You were missing.” Chloe looks off somewhere, dejection on her face. “Then Max came back.” Chloe’s eyes twinkle as she look back smiling. She laughs heartily. “Then I fucking shot myself!”

 

“You shot yourself?” Rachel turns her head in question.

 

“Haha yeah! Right in the--” Chloe’s words cut off as she brings her hand to the left side of her chest, feeling a stickiness beneath her fingers. “What the _fuck_?”

 

“Chloe… I don’t think it was a dream.” Rachel closes her eyes, taking a deep breath.

 

“So what, I’m dead?” Chloe sneers. “Bullshit. Nice joke, Rach. You got me.”

 

“Chloe.” Rachel’s voice cracks through the tears.

 

Chloe scoots to the end of the bed. “Rach, c’mon. You got me. Call off the water works.” Rachel bends at the waist, arms wrapping around her stomach. Chloe nervously lays her hand on Rachel’s shoulder. “Rachel… What’s wrong?”

 

Rachel sobs softly, trying to hold it back. “Nathan killed me.”

 

“Rachel…” Chloe chuckles skittishly. “That’s crazy.”

 

“Is it?” Rachel cranes her head upward, letting Chloe see her bruised neck. She reaches out, delicately touching the wound on Chloe’s chest. “You shot yourself…” She brings her hand to her throat, mimicking her killer’s grasp. “Nathan killed me…” Her hand reaches back to Chloe’s stomach where she once saw a different wound. “Just like he killed you…”

 

“But… Nathan…” Chloe holds her head as it starts to ache. “Max stopped him. I didn’t die.” She pulls her shirt out from her chest, looking down at the blood. “I didn’t… _Fuck_.” Chloe slams her hands on her thighs. “Fuck!” she screams. She pants through her teeth, seething, until she realizes the horrible implication. Her eyes trail up Rachel’s legs, over her flannel, and up to her face. “Fuck… You’re… You’re…” Rachel’s lips quiver as she nods, her lashes dripping with tears. Chloe leans forward off the bed, awkwardly wrapping her arms around Rachel, head in her lap. “I’m sorry.” Chloe cries. “I’m sorry, Rachel. I’m sorry. I tried so hard to find you. I… I tried... “ Chloe keeps stammering, her head in Rachel’s lap.

 

Rachel fights her building despair, doing her best to comfort Chloe. Her hand strokes Chloe’s head as she whispers. “I know. I know you did. It’s okay.” She keeps stroking as Chloe’s hair hardens beneath her fingers. “No…” Rachel says quietly. Chloe’s stiff body falls, unable to maintain balance. Her body crashes into the floor, shattering like porcelain and scattering to the unseen winds.

 

“Stop!” Rachel screams. She stands, grabs the chair she was sitting on, swinging it wildly. “God. Fucking. Dammit!” The chair bangs into the desk, into the walls, against the ceiling as she swing is over her head and down onto the desk. The chair breaks at its joints when it hits the desk, the photos Rachel had been looking at flying everywhere as she falls to her knees. She braces herself with one hand on the edge of the desk, the other pushes back her hair as pants through gritted teeth. “Fuck. This.” Rachel growls, pushing to her feet and stomping to the door. She throws it open and marches headlong into the void.

 

With her first step through the door Rachel falls forward, tumbling as she hits the floor of Chloe’s room falling back through the door she just went out. “Fuck.” she mutters under her breath, finding her feet again. Straight in front of her Rachel sees the chair she had just destroyed completely intact, the desk’s contents returned to their drawers.

 

“Ugh.” Chloe’s voice groans from the bed. “I have the worst fucking hangover.” Rachel’s head drops in exasperation.

 

“You’re not hungover, Chloe.” Rachel lets out a long sigh, folding her arms in front of her chest. “You’re dead.”

 

“How can I be dead?” Chloe chuckles just out of Rachel’s view. “You’re back. I’ve never felt more alive.”

 

“Chloe.” Rachel’s eyes go wide as she turns to look at Chloe, her body battered and bloody, clothes hanging tatters and tears. Chloe sits up, scooting to sit on the end of the bed before rubbing her temples.

 

“Feels like I got hit by a truck.” She says, grinning up at Rachel after a moment. “What?” Rachel stares at Chloe in complete shock. Chloe looks down, giving herself a once over. “What the fuck?”

 

“What… What’s the last thing you remember?” Rachel sits on the edge of the bed, tremors running through her body.

 

Chloe closes her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “The train. I was… Stuck. Max was gonna… trying to…” Rachel’s hand reaches out, resting on Chloe’s knee.

 

“I’m sorry.” Rachel’s voice is somber.

 

“So I’m fucking dead?” Chloe screws her head to look at Rachel.

 

“It seems that way, doesn’t it?” Rachel tries to smile to mask the pain. Chloe turns her head, looking around the room.

 

“Where’s my dad, then?” Chloe asks. Rachel looks around the room too, her mouth drawing a line as she bites her lip.

 

“I don’t know.” Rachel whispers. Chloe sighs, holding her head in her hands.

 

“How long have you been here?” Chloe wonders aloud.

 

“I’m not sure.” Rachel purses her lips. “Time… Time doesn’t seem to move here.” Chloe sighs, wrapping her hands around the back of her own neck, elbows on her knees as she tries to process her own death. The death of Rachel.

 

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Chloe’s brow furrows.

 

“Why?” Rachel arches a brow. Chloe looks up at her silent and stern. Rachel blows air through her nose. “I remember… Nathan.” Rachel gently paws at her own neck around the bruise. Chloe shoots to her feet.

 

“I’ll kill that fucking weasel!” Chloe shouts, pounding her palms on her desk. She grits her teeth. “When?” Chloe’s fingers curl, the pads of her fingers flush against the wood. “When did he do it?” Rachel sighs, sitting on the bed.

 

“Does it matter?” Rachel asks Chloe

 

“It matters to me!” Chloe swings around. “I spent so long looking for you! So fucking long! Were you just fucking dead the whole fucking time?” Rachel averts her eyes from the bloody punk and gives a single slow nod. The backs of Chloe’s legs lean on the desk, her hand shooting to her face in a grim mask to hide her emotions in a classically Chloe gesture. Chloe pushes back her sobs with a sniffle, pushing her hand up her face to wipe her nose on the heel of her hand before gripping the desk.

 

“I’m gonna kill Frank too.” Chloe rattles out.

 

“Frank? Why would you kill Frank? It was Nathan--” Rachel looks up to Chloe, squinting.

 

“He had something to do with it. He jacked your bracelet.” Chloe’s face scrunches in anger. “Kept talking about how much he _loved_ you. Sick fucker.” She scoffs, shaking her head.

 

“Frank didn’t... When did you see Frank?” Rachel reaches across herself, rubbing her own shoulder.

 

“After Max rewound fucking time to save me from shooting myself.” Chloe crosses her arms around her chest.

 

“Right here?” Rachel stands, gently pushing on Chloe’s chest where she had seen the bullet wound the last time Chloe showed up.

 

“How did you…?” Chloe’s eyebrows draw together as she questions.

 

“Because that’s where it was last time I saw you.” Rachel sighs.

 

“Last time?” Chloe cocks her head. “What do you mean last time? I died before?” Chloe’s eyes narrow and her nose scrunches up. “Wait, Frank didn’t what?” Rachel puts her hand on Chloe’s cheek and leans into kiss her.

 

“It doesn’t matter.” A tear rolls down Rachel’s cheek. “You won’t remember any of this.” Instinctually Chloe kisses back before pulling away.

 

“What the fuck are you talk--” Chloe freezes mid sentence, her body stiffening before crumbling to dust on the desk. Rachel plops down in the chair in front of the desk, burying her head in folded arms.

 

After sobbing for God only knows how long, Rachel sits back up in the chair. She stares out the window above Chloe’s desk into the void. “Maybe this is Hell.” Rachel waxes. “This is what I get, right? Because I hurt Chloe?” Sighing, Rachel reaches back into the draw of the desk. For the second time she shuffles through the pictures found within. Pictures of Chloe. Pictures of Rachel. Pictures of Max. She spreads them out, taking in each as itself and as a part of the whole. Rachel’s eyes linger on a photo of herself in her Prospero costume, kneeling before Chloe on stage. She takes a deep breath, leaning back in the chair, and lets her head fall back on her shoulders.

 

Squeaking bed springs stir Rachel from her contemplation. Looking over her shoulder she sees Chloe on her bed again. Her clothes are intact this time. Rachel blows air out her nose at the sight of the red circle on Chloe’s forehead, but does her best to put on her regular air of charm. “So. We meet again.”

 

“Max!” Chloe screams, sitting up in bed, reaching out. She stops, head bobbing down, then back up looking at Rachel. “Rachel? What happened?”

 

“Sorry, Chlo. You died. Welcome back.” Rachel smirks.

 

“What do you mean I _died_?” Chloe tilts her head.

 

Rachel turns her whole body in the chair. “I mean you died. Bit the big one. Kicked the bucket. All that shit swirling around in your head? Whatever did,” Rachel points to her own forehead “That? It happened.” Chloe puts the foot of her hand against the side of her head.

 

“I got shot… in a fucking junkyard… I died in a fucking junkyard?” Chloe questions her own memory as it comes flooding back. Rachel stands, arms crossed.”

 

“If it's any consolation, you seem to be dying and undying a lot lately.” Chloe looks up at her cross. “I’m sorry…” Rachel puts a hand on Chloe’s shoulder and tries to calm her. Chloe jerks her shoulder, shirking Rachel’s show of compassion.

 

“Are you?” Chloe brow furrows, nose scrunching as he scowls up at Rachel. Rachel holds her hand out, shocked.

 

“I… Of course I am.” Rachel puts on her best hurt face.

 

“What about banging Frank? Are you sorry about that too?” Chloe pushes Rachel away.

 

Rachel’s face goes blank. “I didn’t…”

 

“Come off it, Rachel.” Chloe begins to raise her voice. “I found Frank’s stash of love letters and… pictures.”

 

“Chloe, you don’t--”

 

“I don’t understand?” Chloe cuts her off “What part of ‘banging Frank’ did you think I had trouble understanding?” Rachel bows her head.

 

“I…” Rachel says quietly “I never meant to hurt you.”

 

“How long?” Chloe glares at Rachel as she stands from the bed.

 

“How long what?” Rachel looks back up, tears dribbling down her cheeks.

 

“How long were you banging him?” Chloe crosses her arms, adamant to not let Rachel’s crocodile tears get to her.

 

“I don’t know… A few months. Maybe.” Rachel drops her head back down. Chloe goes quiet. For the first time that Rachel can ever remember, Chloe Price is quiet. Deathly quiet. Only the sound of her breath cuts through Rachel’s ears. Rachel dries her eyes with her hands.

 

“One last question.” Chloe says. Rachel cranes her head up to look at Chloe looking down at her. “Was any of it real between us?”

 

“Chloe…” Rachel slowly shakes her head from side to side.

 

“Which parts?” A harsh breath follows Chloe’s words from her mouth. Rachel stands, coming as close to face to face with Chloe as possible.

 

“All of it.” Rachel says, her hands grazing Chloe’s sides. “I swear.”

 

“Be specific.” Chloe crosses her arms, ineffectual to Rachel’s play of her hands.

 

“We’re both dead, Chloe.” Rachel shakes her head again. “None of that matters now.”

 

“Be specific!” Chloe’s voice booms, repeating her demand. Rachel pauses, cocking her head to the side just slightly.

 

“The parts that made you smile, of course.” Rachel smiles that impish, saccharine smile that everybody loves and nobody can resist. Chloe spins away, arms still crossed.

 

“You can’t even be real with me right now, can you?” Chloe says, her head turning turning to the side.

 

“Please…” Rachel’s voice falters. “Please don’t…”

 

“You were _everything_ to me!” Chloe spins back around, arms dropping in balled fists, arms bent, straining as her back droops from the weight of her words.

 

“I know…” Rachel says.

 

“I gave you everything I had.” Chloe’s voice shakes with conviction. “Everything I was. I never stopped looking for you!”

 

“I’m sorry, Chloe.” Rachel’s face shifts from her placid mask to a growing anger. “But don’t you _dare_ tell me you gave me everything. I wanted everything from you. I _needed_ it! I cherish everything you gave me, but it wasn’t ‘everything’. Not the part that mattered most.”

 

“That’s bullshit!” Chloe shouts. “What are you even talking about?”

 

“It’s her!” Rachel shouts back, her arm swinging to the side to point at the photos on the desk. “You could never. Just. Let. Her. Go. Could you?” Rachel slides her arms across the desk, sending the photos flying as she screams. “God fucking dammit, Chloe!”

 

“What is this? Shit all over everything Chloe loves day or something?” Chloe bends at the knees to grab a couple of the photos from the floor. “You gonna bring my dad into it now?”

 

“Fuck you, Chloe.” Rachel leans on the desk, almost sitting on it. “You don’t get it. I don’t think you ever did. Max never left.” Rachel jerks her hand down at the pictures of Max on the floor. “See? She was always there. There in the back of your mind.” Rachel taps the back of her own head to get her point across.

 

“She was my best friend!” Chloe stands back up.

 

“And what did that make me? I was always second banana. The shit you were left with. A last resort.” Rachel crosses her arms, glaring back at Chloe, shining a funhouse mirror on her. “So now it’s my turn, Chloe. Was any of it real?”

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Chloe turns her head up and away in disbelief before looking back to Rachel. “I was Rachel Amber’s dirty little secret.” Chloe points at herself. “I _know_ that. The worst kept secret in Arcadia Bay, I should point out. Everybody knew about us. But that didn’t matter to me. I followed you around like a lost puppy whenever you would let me. Whenever it was convenient for you. Begging for attention when you were partying with those Vortex Club assholes. Wondering if you’d show up high enough to let me touch you or if you’d be so drunk you’d pass out trying to get into my pants and pretend like it never happened.”

 

Rachel’s brows unfurl, her lip quivers. “It wasn’t like that…”

 

“That’s exactly what it was like for me, Rachel!” Chloe yells right at Rachel. “That’s _exactly_ what it was fucking like!” Chloe shakes her head, looking down as she plops back onto the bed. “But I guess you’re right.” She says softly as she looks back up to Rachel, shaking her head. “None of it even matters now.”

 

“Well.” Rachel begins, sitting back in the chair across from Chloe. “We’re stuck here together. Probably forever.” She blows a puff of air from her nose. “At least I am…” she finishes underbreath.

 

“Yeah. My body is lying on top of your shallow grave right now from what I remember. So I’m like _hella_ aware of my current situation.” Chloe pushes her finger right over the bullet hole in her forehead. “But it's okay. I don’t plan to be here much longer. Like you said I seem to be dying and undying a lot, right?”

 

“You’ve never been here this long before.” Concern begins to replace the frustration on Rachel’s face. “I’m not sure--”

 

“Max is going to come for me.” Chloe breaks in, looking Rachel dead in the eye. “She’s going to find a way to bring me back.” Rachel opens her mouth to speak, but looks down and away. Chloe lets out a long sigh. “Y’know, Rach? I think that’s the realest thing you’ve ever said to me...” Rachel turns back to Chloe, her eyes tearing up. “When you said nothing at all.”

 

“Chloe, wait!” Rachel reaches for Chloe, wrapping her arms around her. Chloe collapses to dust in her grasp again. She falls to her knees, crying opening as the dust coating her hands disappears before her eyes. “I’m sorry, Chloe.” Rachel whispers. “I’m sorry for everything. I didn’t…” On her knees Rachel continues to sob, doubling over, her forehead pressing against the bed. “I’m sorry, Chloe.” she blubbers. Rachel cries for longer than she can ever remember having cried in the past before the tears dry up.

 

Reaching down to push herself up, Rachel’s hand collides with the metal box under Chloe’s bed. She takes out the CD, popping it into the HI-FI, and sits at Chloe’s desk, looking through it's contents again. She holds up the photo her herself and Chloe again.

 

“Rachel!” Chloe’s voice call as she crashes around Rachel, hugging her from behind. Rachel stands as soon as Chloe stops hugging her and jumps into her arms, hugging her back as they fall into the bed.

 

“Chloe! You’re back!” Rachel’s cheeks burn from how big her smile is, happy tears in her eyes.

 

“I said I was going to Dreamland.” Chloe laughs. “You know that means sleep, right?” Rachel keeps her smile on her face as she rolls off Chloe, lying on her side beside her, glancing down at the growing red splotch on Chloe’s belly. She kisses Chloe, smiling against her lips. Chloe wraps an arm around Rachel’s shoulders, returning the kiss. “Damn, Rach. I didn’t think I was asleep that long.” She smiles at Rachel before her eyes narrow. “Hey. What happened to your neck?” Rachel winces as Chloe brushes the back of her fingers against the bruises.

 

The sound of creaking hinges cuts through the air, drawing the eyes of both girls to the bedroom door, now standing open. On the other side stands a field of golden wheat as far as the eye can see. “Rachel? What’s going on?” Chloe asks, turning her sight back.

 

Rachel crawls to the end of the bed, standing and offering a hand to Chloe. “C’mon. I’ll explain on the way.” She smiles the realest smile she’s ever smiled. Chloe looks confused for a moment before taking Rachel’s hand, smiling as she nods silently. The HI-FI continues playing as Rachel and Chloe walk through the open door, each with an arm over the other’s shoulder, smiling and giggling as they part the golden fields together.

 

_Goodbye to my Santa Monica dream_

 

_Fifteen kids in the backyard drinking wine_

 

_You will tell me stories of the sea_

 

_And the ones you left behind_

 

_And the ones we left behind_


End file.
